The Las Vegas Grand Prix was a historic event for sportsbooks, despite causing division among locals and facing legal issues. Even as Max Verstappen continued his Formula 1 dominance with his 16th win in 17 races, Caesars Sportsbooks set a new company record for total betting handle on any motorsports event, while rival entity BetMGM and the local Station Casinos, Westgate SuperBook, and Red Rock Resort similarly reported record handle for an F1 Race. The full impact of the race on sportsbooks will be more fully understood next month, when the Nevada Gaming Control Board releases its monthly report for November.

Despite some controversy surrounding the timing of the race, which began at 10 p.m. local time (1 a.m. on the East Coast), several drivers and team executives are pushing for an earlier start to aid their own time-zone acclimation traveling from Europe. “In the past, we had no issue because F1 was just for the European people, and we had to stick to the European timing, and it was okay,” said Fred Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, to ESPN. “Now it’s a worldwide project, and it’s much more difficult to find something fitting with the expectations of the 24-hour zone.”

Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow told the Las Vegas Review Journal that Caesars reported three times Daytona’s numbers for this event alone. BetMGM also reported tripling their number of bets compared to any prior F1 event during this race. The success of this event is due in part to its growing popularity as F1 continues to show signs of becoming a truly global sport. With many fans tuning in from around the world, sportsbooks have experienced unprecedented demand for information about this exciting race